10-12-24

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
October 12, 2024
It is often said that Jesus loved and welcomed everyone. I believe that to be true, and as a recipient of that love and welcome, I am beyond thankful. Yet to say that Jesus loved and welcomed everyone does not mean that everyone was comfortable with Jesus’ unconditional love and immeasurable welcome. There have always been those who felt uncomfortable if that love and welcome were extended to “those” people. Many within the religious institutions at the time of Jesus had discomfort with the extensive list of those who were included in the Jesus community. Sadly, this same kind of discomfort has been found in the church throughout its history. In very strange ways, there have been those in the church who created a gospel of exclusion and limitation, while even attaching the name of Jesus to it. I won’t pretend that the radical and far-reaching gifts of God will always be comfortable. Even the first disciples found themselves questioning and pushing back against what Jesus proclaimed and lived. Yet those same disciples were eventually humbled by the love and welcome of God made real in Jesus, and they were forever changed.

Continue to stretch me, O God of Limitless love and unbounded welcome. There is much work to be done within me, but I humble myself before your Spirit as I seek to become more and more like Jesus. Amen.